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Tag: Inspiration
Quote Of The Week #124
Goal Setting & The 80/20 Principle — 18 Ways To Apply This Principle And Change Your Life
Strangely, this week, I found myself explaining the 80/20 principle to everyone I know. Though this principle is well-known by leaders, it is rarely applied. Leaders around the globe get flooded with information, sometimes more than they can handle. However, they have to make swift decisions and keep their most important objectives in mind.
To extract value and positivity in every situation, to improve our daily life, our institutions, our efficiency, our processes, our achievements, it is detrimental to understand the 80/20 Principle.
Wondering how to generate goals and focus on the most important ones using the 80/20 Principle?
What Is The 80/20 Principle?
The 80/20 Principle is actually known as the Principle of Imbalance, the Principle of Least Effort or the Pareto Law, uncovered in 1897 by Vilfredo Pareto, an italian economist. In the 19th century, in England, Pareto noticed that 80% of the wealth and income was accumulated by only 20% of the population.
Furthermore, Pareto remarked that the wealth was not evenly distributed and that not only wealth was distributed in this manner. The Pareto Principle was consistently reproducible in different countries, in different times and with different sets of data.
The Pareto Principle :
- has been justified by Professor Zipf who demonstrated that 70% of marriages happened to people living 30% within each other.
- has been used by Joseph Moses Juran during the industrial revolution, in Japan, in order to improve the quantity, the reliability and the value of customer goods.
- is illustrated in every cause to effect relationship. For example,
- 20% of employees or customers are responsible for 80% of the company profits.
- 20% of criminals commit 80% of the crimes.
- 20% of your clothes in your closet will be worn 80% of the time.
- 80% of our achievements happen in 20% of our time.
According to Richard Koch, author of The 80/20 Principle The secret of achieving more with less, the principle either requires 80/20 Analysis or 80/20 Thinking:
- 80/20 Analysis: Before taking action, Prior analysis of the non linear relationship between cause and effort. This analysis is time-consuming but more detailed.
- 80/20 Thinking: Before taking action, intuitively identify what is most important, then verify the usefulness of the 80/20 principle in the given situation. This is faster.
Why It Will Change Your Life
Generally, the 80/20 is used to prioritize, to set goals, to achieve more in less time and with less effort. It can be applied in business, in life, in any social grouping and in various cultures. For instance, in business, it helps you identify the areas where you lose time, money and where it is possible to cut your losses.
To exploit its full potential, the 80/20 principle exerts us to:
- Spot the most important and ignore the massive unimportant.
- Understand that every action doesn’t lead to the same outcome or even lead to one.
- Use and work on strengths rather than weaknesses.
- Seek shortcuts instead of taking long detours.
- Gain more control over our lives and thoughts, our work and career selection.
- Relax, work less and “target a limited number of very valuable goals”.
- Transform your work habits.
- Target a number of valuable goals.
- Develop a healthy business strategy.
- It is always possible to improve your skills.
- Multiply what is effective.
- Apply it in business to reduce costs and to generate more revenue.
Putting The Principle Into Practice To Set Tangible Goals
The 80/20 is for those who want more of their life, for the ambitious, for the goal-oriented and for the self-disciplined. Being ambitious is not synonymous to bein overworked, busy, or sacrificing yourself. To harness the 80/20 Principle, to make your dreams more feasible and to grow exponentially in any field:
- Discover what you are more enthusiastic about in life.
- Avoid investing the same amount of energy in everything that you pursue. Be strategic and identify the best 20% and invest 80% of your effort.
- Most people believe that goals are wishes, mere desires that they don’t believe they can achieve. Get clarity and be specific on what you want. There is no unrealistic goals.
- Make your goals big. The bigger the goal, the bigger the impact on your life, the higher the motivation and the longer you can maintain the vision.
- Make sure that these goals are self-imposed.
- Keep your goals simple. Simple is rare but simple is effective. Choose simplicity first. For example, identify the simplest and most standardized product, nurture the simplest 20%, make it high quality and eliminate the rest. In addition, simple businesses are better than complex ones because they deliver better value and perform better.
- Find ways to make your goals achievements fun. Avoid spending time on easy tasks and tune out distractions. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said it best: “Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least”.
- Avoid focusing on the negative and waiting for a positive outcome. It is necessary to let go of the customers, employees, products and processes that don’t bring profits
- Know your values and purpose. Then, align your goals with your values in order to feel more fulfilled.
- Analyze the reasons and the costs of these goals beforehand. Applying the 80/20 Analysis will indicate whether or not you would pursue them.
- Write down your goals for various parts of your life (career, work processes, leadership styles, lifestyle, health) and accomplish the most important goal. These goals must have value. Writing down goals allows you to solidify them subconsciously and to get everything into place.
- Write down what you really want and write it down as if you are writing it from the future, having already achieved your goal.
- Work on this one goal all the time. 20 Percent of your activities will result in 80 percent of our results. It is a known fact that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in a basket. Instead, choose the basket to put all your eggs into.
- Review these goals on a daily to keep your commitment to yourself.
- Divide your goals into smaller steps to make your plan more coherent and easier to achieve.
- Identify the obstacles, the knowledge needed, the relationships that you have to build to achieve your goals.
- Measure your progress with parameters like money, time, energy, emotional investment. You can even create a deadline. If you miss a deadline, create another one.
- Share your goals with those that will implement it.
Last Words Of Advice!
Don’t beat yourself or your team up for not realizing all your goals. Have you used the 80/20 principle and what have you noticed? What is one of the goal that you want to accomplish?
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
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130 Motivating Quotes For The New Year
This year went by quickly… Am I right?
We barely had the time to breathe or to make sense of everything.
Here are a few quotes to get yourself back together and motivate you for the New Year.
This year is going to be your best year yet. Each step that you take will help you overcome your fears and lead you closer to your goals and make you more excited for the year to come.
Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. – Carl Bard
People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily. – Zig Ziglar
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
The most successful people reach the top not because they are free of limitations, but because they act in spite of their limitations. – Michael K. Williams
Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life. – Robin Sharma
Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill
Anyone who has ever made anything of importance was disciplined. – Andrew Hendrixson
Creativity is intelligence having fun. – Albert Einstein
AdvertisementsThe journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. – Lao Tzu
Dream big and dare to fail. – Norman Vaughan
Optimism is the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other. – Brian Tracy
Always keep your eyes open. Keep watching. Because whatever you see can inspire you. – Grace Coddington
What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
You must be the change you wish to see in the world. – Gandhi
Tough times never last, but tough people do. – Dr. Robert Schuller
Keep your face to the sunshine and you can never see the shadow. – Helen Keller
The power of imagination makes us infinite. – John Muir
Once you choose hope, anything’s possible. – Christopher Reeve
Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail. – Charles Kettering
AdvertisementsWhen you come to a roadblock, take a detour. – Mary Kay Ash
Believe you can and you’re halfway there. – Theodore Roosevelt
Don’t wait. The time will never be just right. – Napoleon Hill
Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. – George Addair
A year from now you may wish you had started today. – Karen Lamb
It is never too late to be what you might have been. – George Eliot
Do what you can, where you are, with what you have. – Teddy Roosevelt
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. – Frederick Douglass
What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do. – Tim Ferriss
To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. – Elbert Hubbard
Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions. – Albert Einstein
Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward. – Victor Kiam
The best way to predict the future is to invent it. – Alan Kay
Change your thoughts and you change your world. – Norman Vincent Peale
Action is the foundational key to all success. – Pablo Picasso
Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better. – Jim Rohn
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. – Wayne Gretzky
It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up. – Vince Lombardi
What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. – Napoleon Hill
Never let your memories be greater than your dreams. – Doug Ivester
The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. – Epictetus
Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. – Robert Schuller
It is only in our darkest hours that we may discover the true strength of the brilliant light within ourselves that can never, ever, be dimmed. – Doe Zantamata
If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. – Mary Engelbreit
It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop. – Confucius
Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain. – Vivian Greene
Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow. – Mary Anne Radmacher
Think big and don’t listen to people who tell you it can’t be done. Life is too short to think small. – Tim Ferriss
The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it. – Henry Ford
The real opportunity for success lies within the person and not in the job. – Zig Ziglar
Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all. – Helen Keller
If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor. – Eleanor Roosevelt
Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. – Albert Einstein
If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much. – Jim Rohn
If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. – Albert Einstein
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. – Oscar Wilde
You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated. – Maya Angelou
Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right. – Henry Ford
Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent of how I react to it. – Charles Swindoll
I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination. – Jimmy Dean
Believe you can and you’re halfway there. – Theodore Roosevelt
Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. – Les Brown
Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. – Albert Einstein
I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. – Stephen Covey
When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. – Henry Ford
The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. – Amelia Earhart
Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. – Robert Louis Stevenson
Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact. – William James
Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. – Dalai Lama
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein
The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. – George Addair
We become what we think about. – Earl Nightingale
Eighty percent of success is showing up. – Woody Allen
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. – Steve Jobs
Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is. – Vince Lombardi
Either you run the day, or the day runs you. – Jim Rohn
The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. – Mark Twain
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. – Henry David Thoreau
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. – Arthur Ashe
First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end. – Aristotle
We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained. – Marie Curie
Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. – Joshua J. Marine
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. – Tony Robbins
You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can’t have it. – Robert Anthony
Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything. – Napoleon Hill
Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong. – Ella Fitzgerald
Ones best success comes after their greatest disappointments. – Henry Ward Beecher
The first and most important step toward success is the feeling that we can succeed. – Nelson Boswell
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. – Mahatma Gandhi
That which does not kill us makes us stronger. – Friedrich Nietzsche
We must not allow other people’s limited perceptions to define us. – Virginia Satir
If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way. – Napoleon Hill
If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. – Milton Berle
The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same. – Colin R. Davis
Life has no limitations, except the ones you make. – Les Brown
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. – Muhammad Ali
You will succeed because most people are lazy. – Shahir Zag
The grass is greener where you water it. – Neil Barringham
Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway. – Earl Nightingale
Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from. – Seth Godin
If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try. – Seth Godin
If you can dream it, you can do it. – Walt Disney
All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. – Walt Disney
Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you. – George Whitefield
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. – Eleanor Roosevelt
You just can’t beat the person who never gives up. – Babe Ruth
Knowing Is Not Enough; We Must Apply. Wishing Is Not Enough; We Must Do. – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
When you know what you want,and you want it badly enough,you’ll find a way to get it. – Jim Rohn
Every great story on the planet happened when someone decided not to give up, but kept going no matter what. – Spryte Loriano
If you’re going through hell, keep going. – Winston Churchill
You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them. – Michael Jordan
Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out. – Robert Collier
ll progress takes place outside the comfort zone. – Michael John Bobak
Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today. – Benjamin Franklin
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Don’t count the days, make the days count. – Muhammad Ali
Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. – Tony Robbins
You can’t give up! When you give up, you’re like everybody else! – Chris Evert
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. – Paulo Coelho
Victory is not always winning the battle…but rising every time you fall. – Napoleon Bonaparte
Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway. – Earl Nightingale
Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you. – Mary Lou Retton
Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow. It only saps today of its joy. – Leo Buscaglia
One finds limits by pushing them. – Herbert Simon
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. – Sir Winston Churchill
If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun. – Katharine Hepburn
Success is not what you have, but who you are. – Bo Bennett
Good is the enemy of great. – Jim Collins
There is nothing impossible to him who will try. – Alexander the Great
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Last Words Of Advice!
The above quotes from famous and successful people are meant to motivate and inspire you.
You should read them when you feel demotivated or lost.
Did we miss one of the best quotes of all time? Let us know which quote is your favorite in the comment section.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
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Quote Of The Week #119
Quote Of The Week #117
Quote Of The Week #114
17 Risks Every Leader Should Take
We make decisions all day that will affect the rest of our lives.
These decisions have to be thought through in order for us to have the life we want.
They affect our self-esteem, relationships, career, lifestyle, … our everyday.
The truth is, there is always an element of risk in everything that we do.
Wondering what are the risks that every leader should take?
1. Bet on yourself
The best bet you can take is on yourself.
Indeed, you are your best tool for success even if you cannot predict the future or the outcome of your decision.
If you want to achieve great things, you must first believe in yourself then make sure that you are always performing at your best.
2. Get to know yourself better
Getting to know yourself better means trying new activities, seeing what you like and dislike, what you are good at or not.
Being authentically yourself requires courage and the belief that nobody needs to like you.
3. Improve on yourself
Change is scary for most people.
When you try to improve on yourself, the people around you will resist that change, may even think that you are crazy and may not recognize you.
They will pressure you to revert to your old self. You will risk losing friends and family in order for you to grow and to feel good about yourself.
4. Reinvent yourself
Don’t do what is expected of you.
Your life will be dull if you did what everyone else wanted of you.
Your friends and family certainly have your best interest at heart but most of the time they can stunt your growth and bring down your expectations so you don’t outgrow them, so you don’t change.
To break these expectations, start doing things that your entourage will laugh or look down upon.
5. Put yourself out there
Everyone observes and judges others at some point in their life. Honestly, we all do it whether we mean to do it or not.
Everybody criticizes. Criticism can be negative or positive but it can sometimes be useful.
It only hurts if you let it or if you agree with the criticism.
So, put yourself out there:
- Risk of being judged or appearing foolish.
- Don’t be afraid to look stupid doing something.
6. Pursue your dreams
Don’t live in regrets and what ifs.
You don’t want to get old and realize that you didn’t do what you set out to do.
Furthermore, the happiest or most content people are driven, purposeful and allow themselves to dream and act upon their dream.
There comes a point in time when you have to chose between your goals and your friends. You have to know that it is OK to miss out on fun events with friends and family in order to work on your goals and advance your purpose.
7. Admit your mistakes
When you take risks, you will always make mistakes.
Mistakes are signs that you are human, trying new things and getting our of your comfort zone.
Sometimes, we think that there is no going back from our mistakes, we cannot move on and we cannot be forgiven for what we have done.
You will ever know if you don’t take the risks and ask for forgiveness.
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8. Learn to forgive
When other people on your team make mistakes, you must learn to give them a second chance.
The risk or the certainty is that they will mess up again but they will have enough confidence to fix their mistakes.
Consequently, they will trust you more, be more creative and forgive you more when you make a mistake.
9. Show emotion
In the workplace, showing emotion is risky because people will tend to use them against you.
In order to not be taken advantage of, you really have to own them and discipline yourself.
10. Ask questions
Leaders must acknowledge that they don’t know everything.
They must therefore listen, ask questions and value their employees.
It’s better to ask questions and look dumb for a few minutes than say nothing and be dumb for a lifetime.
11. Speak up
Leaders must speak truth to power, speak with truth, power, integrity and transparency.
They must stand up for what they believe in and speak up when it’s right even when it’s hard to do.
In addition, they express their opinion, don’t try to manage other people’s feelings and opinions: they say what they mean and mean what their say.
People who are able to speak up confidently, say what bothers them and what doesn’t are the people who usually go far in life.
12. Analyze opportunities
Before taking any risks, you must always analyze the pros and the cons of your decisions.
You have the right to say no to opportunities that don’t fit you.
You have the duty to say yes more often to things that scare you.
Just remember that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
13. Risk rejection
If you haven’t been rejected in life, then you haven’t done anything worthwhile.
You have to dare to apply to jobs you don’t have the qualifications for, talk to people outside your circle with different affinities.
If people don’t return your interests, then they are the ones missing out.
14. Let go of things you cannot control
You must take the risk that everything will work out on its own and you don’t have to control everything.
15. Don’t be afraid of getting hurt
Taking risks implies that you will be vulnerable most of the time.
In other words, it means that you open yourself up to get hurt.
Because pain is inevitable, you can go for it and perform at the best of your abilities.
16. Overcome your fears one by one
You will not feel confident going towards your fears. However, once you have faced your fears, you will feel good about yourself and be ready to take on any life challenges.
In reality, your fears are not as bad as you think and facing them help you build confidence.
Most of the time, your mind and your ego are exaggerating your fears to protect you.
17. Travel
Travelling allows you to reframe your mindset, to learn new things and meet new people.
It also allows you to try out different versions of yourself.
It costs money but it is totally worth it.
Last Words Of Advice!
Life is an adventure! Don’t live in regrets and live your life to the fullest.
Taking risks is the best chance you have to get to know yourself, predict the future and achieve your highest potential.
The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
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12 Ways Leaders Live Life To The Fullest
Leaders are generally very busy and have a tendency to spread themselves pretty thin.
They dabble in multiple activities but don’t take the time to relax and to smell the flowers.
While achieving their goals, it seems that they forget to live life to the fullest and can hardly make the difference between Monday, Friday or Saturday.
Wondering how leaders live their life to the fullest?
Living life to the fullest means that you go after what you want without letting fear get in the way.
1. Leaders focus on themselves
Leaders work towards their goals everyday, focus on themselves and not on others.
Leaders who live their life to the fullest focus their time and energy on things that matter.
In Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less, Greg Mckeown urges us to discipline ourselves, to be selective of the activities that you partake in.
2. Leaders give way to their imagination
Leaders don’t downsize their dreams.
Instead, they dream so big that it scares them.
They expect great things from themselves.
They are just convinced that they will succeed no matter what.
3. Leaders are self-assured
They don’t care what others think about them and don’t live by other people’s expectation.
In addition, they say yes to opportunities that they want, they don’t settle for less, for people or a job they don’t respect.
Furthermore, leaders don’t complain, make excuses, or procrastinate.
4. Leaders go after what they really want
Life is shorter than we think. Years go by in a blimp and leaders know that.
I can hardly remember what happened last year and the year before that.
All I know is that I didn’t do what I really wanted to do.
To go after what they really want, leaders:
- Maximize their potential
- Choose their job and activities carefully (if they can).
- Are selective of whom and what they give their energy to.
5. Leaders do something that they really enjoy everyday
If you like to read like I do, you can take time off at lunch or in the commute to read and to unwind.
Their life choices are not tied to monetary issues.
6. Leaders don’t take life too seriously
Leaders have huge responsibilities.
Paradoxically, they don’t take life too seriously.
Leaders learn to laugh at themselves and their circumstances.
They relax when they have to, and don’t succumb to negative emotions and behaviors.
For them, being positive is a state of mind but most importantly it’s a choice.
7. Leaders walk in their purpose
Leaders live life from the inside out: they know that how they think will demonstrate itself.
Therefore, Every little thing that they do had purpose.
They stick to their system of values and live in alignment with their purpose.
They have clear defined values and a personal mission statement that they live by.
8. Leaders are present
Leaders consider everyday to be a new day.
They don’t let life rule them, they stay present and don’t look back at the past failures.
9. Leaders are forgiving
They do not hold on to past hurts, memories and to people who degrade them.
10. Leaders are authentic
They are committed to grow.
They don’t want to live someone else’s life.
They don’t want to be surrounded by people they don’t like or respect.
11. Leaders are people persons
They enjoy alone time.
They surround themselves with people who push them to grow, to be better and to do better.
12. Leaders are curious
Leaders get out of their comfort zone.
They seek to know more and to upgrade their mindset.
Last Words Of Advice!
We all have an idea of the person we want to become in life.
Don’t wait to have everything 100% in place to behave like your ideal self.
Remember, it’s your life and you create your own life experiences.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
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Quote Of The Week #112
